Oxford Nanopore Layoffs

I’m hearing reports of 60 and ~5% of the workforce being laid off at Oxford Nanopore today, this is confirmed by multiple LinkedIn posts stating individuals have left the company.

Sad news for those involved, I knew some of them well from my time and Oxford and wish them luck finding new positions.

Some of these folks would have been hired by Clive in his initial role at Oxford covering “Informatics and IT”. Clive of course left in November after rumors that he was no longer playing an active role at the company.

The layoffs come after what appears to be an additional investment by Larry Ellison earlier this month (UPDATE: someone suggested these shares were purchased on the open market, someone who understands these reports better than me can comment). And rumors that Gordon (Oxford CEO) said he will fire 1/3rd of the company if revenue doesn’t increase, early last year.

The layoffs and investment suggest that like me they are not entirely confident they can reach profitability by 2027 (as stated in January) without significant changes.

Overall, Oxford seems like a company with a great technology and many good people, but an executive team that often makes dubious decisions.